UN Says 250 million Students Missed School in 2024 Because of Weather
2025-01-29
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1A United Nations report has found that extreme weather interrupted the schooling of at least 242 million children last year.
2The weather included severe events such as heatwaves, cyclones and extreme dryness and flooding, the U.N.'s Children's Fund (UNICEF) said. Students in 85 nations were affected.
3UNICEF said weather-related interruptions amounted to one in seven school-aged children across the world being kept out of class at some point during 2024.
4The report also noted that some countries said that hundreds of their schools were destroyed by weather.
5Nations in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa were hit especially hard.
6But the report said other parts of the world also experienced problems.
7The report noted that heavy rains and flooding near the end of 2024 disrupted school for more than 900,000 children in Italy.
8And in Spain, thousands of students had their classes canceled because of severe flooding.
9UNICEF reported that southern Europe experienced deadly floods and parts of Asia and Africa suffered flooding and cyclones.
10But heatwaves, the report noted, were "the predominant climate hazard shuttering schools last year."
11More than 118 million children had their schooling interrupted in April alone, the report said.
12Those interruptions were linked to heatwaves in parts of the Middle East and Asia.
13School was interrupted because temperatures rose above 40 degrees Celsius.
14UNICEF executive director Catherine Russell said in a statement the report shows that the world's children today "are more vulnerable" to extreme weather-related events than in the past.
15She added, "Children cannot concentrate in classrooms that offer no respite from sweltering heat, and they cannot get to school if the path is flooded, or if schools are washed away."
16Around 74 percent of the children affected in 2024 were in middle- and low-income countries, the report said. UNICEF said this demonstrates how climate extremes continue to have a damaging effect on the world's poorest countries.
17In Pakistan, flooding ruined more than 400 schools in April. And Afghanistan experienced heatwaves followed by severe flooding that destroyed more than 110 schools in May.
18Months of drought in southern Africa threatened schooling for millions of children, the report added.
19More recently, the French territory of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean off Africa was left in ruins by Cyclone Chido in December.
20Cyclone Chido also destroyed more than 330 schools and three education departments in Mozambique.
21The U.N. children's agency report stated that the world's schools and education systems "are largely ill-equipped" to deal with the effects of extreme weather.
22I'm Bryan Lynn.
1A United Nations report has found that extreme weather interrupted the schooling of at least 242 million children last year. 2The weather included severe events such as heatwaves, cyclones and extreme dryness and flooding, the U.N.'s Children's Fund (UNICEF) said. Students in 85 nations were affected. 3UNICEF said weather-related interruptions amounted to one in seven school-aged children across the world being kept out of class at some point during 2024. 4The report also noted that some countries said that hundreds of their schools were destroyed by weather. Nations in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa were hit especially hard. But the report said other parts of the world also experienced problems. 5The report noted that heavy rains and flooding near the end of 2024 disrupted school for more than 900,000 children in Italy. And in Spain, thousands of students had their classes canceled because of severe flooding. 6UNICEF reported that southern Europe experienced deadly floods and parts of Asia and Africa suffered flooding and cyclones. But heatwaves, the report noted, were "the predominant climate hazard shuttering schools last year." 7More than 118 million children had their schooling interrupted in April alone, the report said. Those interruptions were linked to heatwaves in parts of the Middle East and Asia. School was interrupted because temperatures rose above 40 degrees Celsius. 8UNICEF executive director Catherine Russell said in a statement the report shows that the world's children today "are more vulnerable" to extreme weather-related events than in the past. She added, "Children cannot concentrate in classrooms that offer no respite from sweltering heat, and they cannot get to school if the path is flooded, or if schools are washed away." 9Around 74 percent of the children affected in 2024 were in middle- and low-income countries, the report said. UNICEF said this demonstrates how climate extremes continue to have a damaging effect on the world's poorest countries. 10In Pakistan, flooding ruined more than 400 schools in April. And Afghanistan experienced heatwaves followed by severe flooding that destroyed more than 110 schools in May. Months of drought in southern Africa threatened schooling for millions of children, the report added. 11More recently, the French territory of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean off Africa was left in ruins by Cyclone Chido in December. Cyclone Chido also destroyed more than 330 schools and three education departments in Mozambique. 12The U.N. children's agency report stated that the world's schools and education systems "are largely ill-equipped" to deal with the effects of extreme weather. 13I'm Bryan Lynn. 14The Associated Press reported this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for VOA Learning English. 15_______________________________________________________ 16Words in This Story 17interrupt - v. to stop an action or activity, usually for a short period of time 18cyclone - n. a violent storm with strong winds that move in a circular motion 19predominant - adj. more important or noticeable than other things 20hazard - n. something dangerous 21shutter - v. to close 22vulnerable - adj. easy to hurt or attack physically or emotionally 23concentrate - v. think very carefully about something without doing anything else 24respite - n. a short period of rest from something difficult or unpleasant 25drought - n. an extremely dry period of weather with little rain and a shortage of water